1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to cooling semiconductor chips. In particular, this invention utilizes heretofore unused thermal channels, thereby providing enhanced heat dissipation for electronic products.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many advanced microprocessor designs are reaching the limits of thermal dissipation which can be accommodated by air cooling alone. Examples include multi-core processors, multi-chip modules, as well as high performance microprocessors used for home entertainment. Efforts to control thermal dissipation through redesign of the chips have met with some success, but the use of air cooling places fundamental limitations on the thermal management of these systems. In addition, many of these chips require very high I/O count and high interconnect density, which has begun to push the limits of conventional electrical interconnnects. In order to address both of these concerns, we propose a version of direct liquid jet cooling for these applications which incorporates metal clad optical fibers to enhance cooling performance. Metal clad fibers have been recommended in the technical literature for highly corrosive environments and for increased mechanical protection of the glass fiber but have never been designed into a microprocessor package to provide cooling enhancing properties.